It was an eventful MTV Video Music Awards this year, with Taylor Swift winning Video of the Year, Kanye West’s declaration he would run for president and Miley Cyrus’s outrageous outfits.
Swift, who won the top prize for her smash Bad Blood, presented West with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award on Sunday night at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. West gave a riveting, rambling speech in which he apologised to Swift for taking her microphone in 2009, pondered modern parenting and claimed he would run for president in 2020.
“This arena tomorrow is gonna be a completely different set-up, this stage will be gone. After that night, the stage was gone, but the effect that it had on people remained,” West said of running onstage during Swift’s speech at the 2009 VMAs. “The problem was the contradiction. The contradiction is I do fight for artists, but in that fight I somehow was disrespectful to artists. I didn’t know how to say the right thing, the perfect thing.”
It was just one of the dramatic moments during the awards show.
After all the hype leading up to Cyrus’s hosting gig, the foul-mouthed, nearly always scantily clad singer did not disappoint those expecting her to both shock and amuse. Her parade of more than 15 wildly colourful outfits throughout the show ranged from see-through to barely covering her body.
Nicki Minaj called Cyrus out after the 22-year-old said in an interview that the rapper was being a poor sport about not receiving a nomination for Video of the Year.
After collecting Best Hip-Hop Video for Anaconda, Minaj told the audience: "And now back to this b*** that had a lot to say about me a lot in the press. Miley, what's good?"
Minaj's microphone was cut off and Cyrus fired back with "we all know how they manipulate" words during interviews, referencing a pre-VMAs interview in the New York Times. Cyrus then stumbled over her words as she tried to read from cue cards about voting for the Artist to Watch award.
“I lost this award in 2008 and I was fine with it. Whatever! Because it’s no big deal. It’s just an award and I persevered,” she yelled, appearing to look over at Minaj. She ended with: “Congratulations Nicki.”
In the recent interview, Cyrus criticised Minaj for her "pop star war" with Swift that began in July. On the show, however, that "war" appeared to be over, with Swift joining the rapper during her performance of the The Night Is Still Young. Both in red, Swift performed some of her hit, Bad Blood, and the two closed with a hug.
The problems began in July when the nominations were announced and Minaj, who had one of the most viewed videos of the year with Anaconda, was not up for video of the year. She tweeted that slim women easily earn top nominations and said black female entertainers don't get enough credit for their influence on pop culture. Swift, the top nominee with 10 nods, thought the rapper was referring to her and they traded words online, but later apologised.
Swift's wins included best female video and pop video for Blank Space and video of the year for Bad Blood.
“I know there’s been a lot of discussion about this video and what it means, but I’m just happy that in 2015 we live in a world where boys can play princesses and girls can play soldiers,” she said onstage after winning the top prize.
Justin Bieber returned to the big stage with slick dance moves to his hit Where Are U Now and new single, What Do You Mean?. He was emotional by the end of the performance and cried onstage.
Tori Kelly was a vocal powerhouse during her performance of Should've Been Us, ending in a cappella to a rousing applause. The Weeknd's smokey performance of Can't Feel My Face was energetic and smooth, and even West, Swift and Selena Gomez got out of the chairs to dance to the upbeat track. Demi Lovato brought a summer vibe when she sang her anthemic Cool for the Summer outdoors with background dancers wearing bright colours that added to the song's summer-feel.
Cyrus hosted the VMAs two years after she stole the show with a risqué, but memorable performance with Robin Thicke, and a year after winning the top prize for Wrecking Ball.
Cyrus announced at the end of the show that her new album, Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, is available online for free.